Prevewing Panther's Monday night game against the Washington Redskins

The Carolina Panthers will travel to take on the Washington Redskins on Monday night. The Panthers are 4-point underdogs, with 7 of Panther’s 13 games being decided by 3 points or less. The Redskins are 7-5, third in the NFC East and are half-game behind Tampa Bay for the final Wild Card spot. Last week Panthers beat the San Diego Chargers 28 to 16 to get back on the winning side, while the Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27 to 22. One of the biggest keys of this game is Panthers pass defense against the Redskins passing offense. The Panthers have the third worst pass defense in the NFL allowing 272.4 yards per game, while the Redskins have the second best total offense (412.1) and passing yards (302.8) per game. If the Panthers want to win this game, there secondary needs to show-up, especially rookies cornerbacks James Bradberry and Daryl Worley.  

            One of the biggest storylines of this game is cornerback Josh Norman playing against his former team who he played his first four seasons with. The Carolina Panthers drafted Josh Norman in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and was a decent cornerback his first three seasons in Carolina. But his fourth season he went off, grabbing four interceptions, and returning two of those for touchdowns. He was one of the main reasons why the Panthers started the season 13-0 and went to the Super Bowl, giving the Panthers a lock-down corner and put even more pressure on opposing quarterbacks with that stout defensive-line. But when the offseason came around Norman become a free agent and the Panthers decided to put a franchise tag on him. But in April the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag offer to Norman. Which made Norman a free agent and would eventually sign with the Washington Reskins on a five-year, 75 million dollar deal, making him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.

            Key players for this game for the Panthers is quarterback Cam Newton, who was limited in practiced this week due to a shoulder injury but is expected to play Monday. Cam Newton is having a career-low only completing 53.5% of his passes with 15 Touchdowns and 9 interceptions. The Panthers need him to get back to his MVP ways again to win this game and have a chance to make the playoffs. The other player for the Panthers is linebacker Luke Kuechly who missed past three games because of concussion but has been fully participation in practice. Panthers need their star linebacker to help their very weak secondary. The two key Redskins players are quarterback Kirk Cousin and wide receiver Desean Jackson, will be interesting to see how the two will exploit the Panthers weak secondary and how the Panthers will try to contain both. Carolina Panthers (5-8) play against the Washington Redskins (7-5-1) Monday night on ESPN.